Secure Communities Program Continues Efforts in Fairfax County

March 17, 2010

In March 2009, the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office received access to
the Secure Communities Program administered by the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE). Since that time, ICE has identified over 1,200
aliens charged with or convicted of crimes. ICE has already removed 144
of these individuals, while the remaining are in immigration proceedings
or will be removed from the United States once they serve their criminal
sentence. The Sheriff's Office was the first law enforcement agency in
Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area to partner with ICE through
this program.

"The Secure Communities program has been a great success," said
Sheriff Stan Barry. "ICE has been able to identify illegal aliens
that committed serious crimes in Fairfax County and presented a threat to
our community. Through this program, ICE was able to deport them at no
cost to Fairfax County."

Under the program, ICE agents check available criminal and immigration
records of every individual booked by Sheriff's deputies. As part of the
Secure Communities strategy, ICE deployed new technology, which enables
fingerprints submitted during the booking process to be checked
automatically against the Department of Justice criminal history records
and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records, including
immigration status. When fingerprints match DHS records, ICE is
automatically notified and promptly determines if enforcement action is
required. This process applies to all individuals arrested and booked
into the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Secure Communities enhances the ongoing partnership by ICE and the
Sheriff's Office. The capabilities and deployment of this program is a
critical tool for better identifying and removing criminal aliens.